#62529
03/27/2002 11:43 AM
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Today's word is definitely a new one on me - is it in common usage in the US? The nearest I can think of that we have are 'sleeping policemen' which are the bumps they put into the road to slow traffic down. I think I'd just use 'potholes' to describe what today's word is calling 'thank-you-ma'am's'.
What about the rest of you??
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#62530
03/27/2002 11:59 AM
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I believe this is a slightly risqué reference to sexual gratification. More upon request.
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#62531
03/27/2002 12:35 PM
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not according to AWAD it's not:
thank-you-ma'am (THANGK yoo mam) noun
A bump or depression in a road.
[From the nod of the head that results when one passes over it in a vehicle,
as if in an acknowledgment of a favor.]
but then maybe I'm just being an innocent - do elaborate!!
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#62532
03/27/2002 1:25 PM
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Today's word is definitely a new one on me - is it in common usage in the US?
I wouldn't say it's common, but I've heard it. 'Round these parts a "sleeping policeman" is usually called a "speedbump". A thank-you-ma'am is sort of a reverse speedbump -- a chunk taken out of the road rather than a bump added on.
We call potholes potholes here, too. That is, when we are not calling them <BLEEP>ing, God-<BLEEP>ed, alignment-<BLEEP>ing potholes.
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#62533
03/27/2002 6:34 PM
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Rkay : I think I'd just use 'potholes' to describe what today's word is calling 'thank-you-ma'am's'
Oh dearie me no!
A pothole is a hole in the road usually caused when winter frost heaves subside. At least in cold winter areas.
Re thank-you-ma'ams : In my youth secondary roads were not as beautifully graded as they are now ... and sometimes as you went along the car would come to a raised section of road with sloping sides - large enough to tilt the car up and down again quite quickly - but not high enough to "hang it up."
Have you ever been in an airplane when it "hit an air pocket" and you got that whoopsidaisy lift and return?
Well a "thank-you-ma'am" is like that but not as severe.
I learned the term in the "old days" (1930s) when Dad piled us all in the car for The Sunday Drive.
Although I was taught thank-you-mum! Was told it came from the bobbing curtsy maids gave to employers in the *really old days of live-in household help; black, ankle length uniforms, white aprons and tiny white caps!
"Mum" being for employers; "ma'am" being reserved for The Queen.
Had not run into a thank-you-mum for years and years until, funnily enough, I was driving on a unimproved (dirt) road about a month ago and hit a thank-you-mum. I said the phrase aloud and then had to explain the meaning to my *young driving companion.
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#62534
03/27/2002 6:45 PM
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..."Mum" being for employers; "ma'am" being reserved for The Queen.
OK. This means the Queen Mum employs the Queen?
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#62535
03/27/2002 7:54 PM
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I said the phrase aloud and then had to explain the meaning to my *young driving companion.
Then you had to explain to the board who your *young driving companion. was! We know..probably your grandchild, but gotta find something to kid with our Wise Old Woman about!
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#62536
03/27/2002 11:26 PM
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The nearest I can think of that we have are 'sleeping policemen'Hmmm, never heard them called that (or thank-you maam for that matter)! Oh well, perhaps it explains why I drive over them so fast.  I love it when I'm airborne! Oh ha ha ... in my dreams, maybe!
which are the bumps they put into the road to slow traffic down. <snip> What about the rest of you??
We call them "speed bumps" and the Zilders call them "Judder Bars". Don't ask me why, they're a weird mob over there.
Hev
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#62537
03/27/2002 11:54 PM
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#62538
03/28/2002 12:18 PM
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had to explain the meaning to my *young driving companion.
Then you had to explain to the board who your *young driving companion was
Not my grandchild, smarty pants! And never you mind!
"Mum" being for employers; "ma'am" being reserved for The Queen.
OK. This means the Queen Mum employs the Queen?
I was taught you say "Your Majesty" first then "ma'am" in rest of conversation.
Ah HA!...Debrett's "Etiquette and Modern Manners" says :
The Queen : Correspondence should be addressed to "The Private Secretary to Her Majesty The Queen.
Introduced as : Her Majesty The Queen.
Addressed as Your Majesty subsequently "Ma'am" (pronounced mam)
The correspondence for Queen Mother same form as for the Queen.
Introduced : Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother
Address : Her Majesty subsequently Ma'am.
I was under impression the British people started calling Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother by the cozier and most affectionate soubriquet "Queen Mum." When in Britain I noticed Mothers were most often called Mum by children. Can/will any Brits help me out here?
Now, if you are talking Mothers and Daughters ......
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#62539
03/28/2002 12:35 PM
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Then you had to explain to the board who your *young driving companion was!
Not necessarily.
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#62540
03/28/2002 10:13 PM
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I believe this is a slightly risqué reference to sexual gratification. More upon request. -faldage
Thank-you-ma'am:
1. phrase, Brit. a considerate commemt to a Lady for a kindness given.
2. vulgar, Amer. Chiefly used by Faldage and his cronies. circa 1958. As used..." Naw man, weren't no romance, you know me- Bip Bam, Thank you Ma'am -and I was back in the truck,"
3. current slang Amer. a speedbreaker, sometimes humorously equated with Faldage's 'Bip Bam'.
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#62541
03/29/2002 12:47 AM
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Faldage's 'Bip Bam'.
Hey. That's what attracted me to him in the first place!
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#62542
03/29/2002 1:07 AM
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Faldage's 'Bip Bam'. Hey. That's what attracted me to him in the first place!Must ...... resist ....... temptation!
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#62543
03/29/2002 1:13 AM
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Faldage's 'Bip Bam'.
faldage's dear one: Hey. That's what attracted me to him in the first place!
Showings to be arranged (for a suitably large fee) at Wordapalooza!.
Sneak preview to be posted at "Do You See What I See"?
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#62544
03/29/2002 3:55 AM
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2. vulgar, Amer. Chiefly used by Faldage and his cronies. circa 1958. As used..." Naw man, weren't no romance, you know me- Bip Bam, Thank you Ma'am -and I was back in the truck," Bip Bam? I don't think so, Gramps  , as David Bowie *officially replaced 'Bip' with 'Wham'... not that everyone else caught on either! http://www.amiright.com/misheard/artist/bowiedavid.shtmlps. I wasn't yet even a twinkle in my parents eyes in 1958...
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#62545
03/29/2002 5:01 AM
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Oh, Musick! What a cool site! I'm goin to spend some time there!  Depending on what part of 1958 you are talking about, I was either a twinkle...or beyond. Birthday is March of 1959!
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#62546
03/29/2002 8:45 AM
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old hand
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Bip Bam? I don't think so, Gramps , as David Bowie *officially replaced 'Bip' with 'Wham'... not that everyone else caught on either! (well,as for me, I wasn't even a gleam in my Daddy's eye in 1958.) -musick It is right that Musick and David Bowie celebrate their youthfulness. But the sky-gods cry when they celebrate their ignorance of manly things as well - old Sioux indian saying. Bip Bam (Thank you ma'am): The Clovers, Atlantic Records, 1954. 
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#62547
03/30/2002 12:02 AM
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Bip Bam (Thank you ma'am): The Clovers, Atlantic Records, 1954.
Well, even I might barely have been a gleam in my Daddy's eye for that one.
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#62548
04/03/2002 5:45 AM
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In reply to:
When in Britain I noticed Mothers were most often called Mum by children. Can/will any Brits help me out here?
Certainly mothers in the UK are affectionately addressed as mum, not that US'n abomination, mom.
Bingley
Bingley
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#62549
04/03/2002 12:29 PM
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Well, when I described a thank-you-maam - seems I was really describing a "Kiss Me Quick!"
I blame it all on my Father. He told me and he had it mixed up!
The depression in the road would be a "thank you ma'am" and the lifting of car from a hump in the road would be a "kiss me quick."
A pothole is neither, It's a big hole in the paved surface that causes your car to go out of alignment and ruins your tires!
Apologies ... seems even an old dog can learn something new every day, to mix my metaphors.
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#62550
04/03/2002 4:33 PM
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I resemble anyone calling you a dog, dear wow. [kiss-on-cheek -e]
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#62551
04/03/2002 5:13 PM
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old hand
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I was under impression the British people started calling Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth, The Queen Mother by the cozier and most affectionate soubriquet "Queen Mum."Actually, the affectionate soubriquet "Queen Mum" was first used by a Canadian journo. Bingley's right - Mom is vile! All us kiddies call our Mum, Mum - she's British and she loathes "Mom." Unfortunately it's difficult, on this continent (N.A.) to find birthday and other greeting cards that say "Mum." We have to write over the "Mom".....
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#62552
04/03/2002 5:53 PM
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I assume, therefore, she was the flower of your childhood!
TEd
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